Strangers from all over the world are now letting a little boy know that his open-heart surgery scars are beautiful.
Mark Gentle's son Carter was born with a congenital heart defect that has so far required a total of five open-heart surgeries. The seven-year-old's most recent surgery was to repair the pacemaker he's had since he was an infant.
Gentle told BuzzFeed that Carter was very emotional about the way his chest looked. So Gentle posted this photo to Facebook in the hope that his Facebook friends would cheer Carter up.
#CHDAWARENESS We were a little apprehensive to post this but I feel it's important. Carter took his bandages off this morning. He cried for 45 minutes when he saw his scars. He said that he's afraid people will think he is ugly. This was hard to hear as a parent. We told him that his scars are beautiful and make him look like a superhero. How many likes can Carter get for his bravery?! Feel free to share. #CartersSong #HeartHeroes #CHD
To say Gentle's plan worked is a bit of an understatement, though. His photo currently has over a million likes and has been shared almost 100,000 times.
